Sometimes an idea seems so simple and obvious you wonder why no one thought of it before.

Translucent Concrete is a combination of optical fibres and fine concrete. Thousands of fibres run side by side transmitting light between the two surfaces of each element. Because of their small size the fibres blend into concrete becoming a component of the material like small pieces of ballast. In this manner, the result is not only having the two materials mixed - glass in concrete - but a third, new material, which is homogeneous in its inner structure and on its main surfaces as well.

I enjoy watching Dragons’ Den, the BBC programme where those asking for money for their businesses or inventions are cross-examined by potential investors. Very often the supplicants are poorly prepared with facts and figures, and the resulting mauling they get from the infuriated millionaires is entertaining.